After Dark >>

• Personal Best: Where the Pavement Ends
  Michael Kostick, Biker
  Michael Kostick gets a little carried away when he talks about his favorite nightspot, Café 27, on U.S. 27, across from Everglades Holiday Park, out where Griffin Road meets the wilderness. It's bike night there on Fridays, when the motorcycling dudes crowd into a series of chickee huts... More >>
• Best Activity While Intoxicated
  Skinny Dipping
  Yeah, it's known to attract monstrous, man-eating sharks, but that's only in New England. In the movies. In real-life South Florida, nothing is more randy than a few brews on a blanket under the stars and a communal dip in the buff. The important things to remember here: 1. Watch your clothes.... More >>
• Best Happy Hour in Broward
  Tarpon Bend
  As soon as we rule the world, we'll raze all the condos and build a string of tiki bars right on the beach so that you can spend happy hour properly... barhopping along the sand. Until then, the best place to de-stress after work is right in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Despite its urban location,... More >>
• Best Happy Hour in Palm Beach
  Crabby Jack's
  Crabby Jack's has made a name for itself with the FAU college crowd for good reason. While most students are late-night partyers, this seafood joint knows the importance of a good pregame technique. Not many folks spend the entire night at Crabby Jack's -- but that's what happy hour is all... More >>
• Best Debauched Dance Night (1 Comment)
  Flaunt Thursdays at Delux Lounge
  Eleven-thirty on a Thursday night may be sheep-counting time for most 9-to-5'ers, but at Delux's weekly indie night, Flaunt, the dance floor's just getting warmed up... and how. The club's plush interior seems to belie the unrestrained activities of the mostly 20-something regulars. You won't... More >>
• Best Bar for Smokers
  Club M
  Downtown Hollywood has gone through a slew of changes over the decades, but none has fazed Club M. This downtown drinkery has been handing out booze for the past 85 years with little concern for fluctuating obsessions about air quality as time elapsed. The bar sits next door to a great little... More >>
• Best New Bar in Broward
  The Brick
  The day is nigh when the entire downtown village of too-loud, too-expensive bars is going to be plowed under to make way for the encroaching condo canyon. When the ordinances come for these joints, which make such a ruckus indeed, they will come first for the likes of the Brick. Imagine, the... More >>
• Best New Bar in Palm Beach
  Yard House
  This upscale pub boasts that it serves the "world's largest selection of draft beers." Hard to argue with that. Nestled behind the tennis-court-length bar are 130 spigots for pouring 110 different beers. Few bars offer that variety even in bottled beers. The brew names alone are entertaining:... More >>
• Best New Club
  Roxanne's on Main
  So it seems that almost every hot spot in Fort Lauderdale has the shelf life of a ripe banana -- here today, gone in an hour. It's often those random, out-of-the-way places that seem to keep people coming back for what they can't get at the meet market (as in, serious fun and damned good... More >>
• Best Place to Gamble
  Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
  Sure, local cities are bringing in slot machines all over the place, but there's a reason the Hard Rock has established gambling dominance in South Florida. The Rock set aside 130,000 square feet for pure gaming purposes, with 2,100 one-armed bandits and 50 poker tables. And for the thirsty, the... More >>
• Best Poolside Bar
  Big Game Bar & Grill
  Sorry, folks, no marble-lined, zero-horizon swimming pool here. No toned, tanned, bikini-clad nymphets serving fruity frozen drinks that cost more than a tank of gas. No tapas, no trendoids, no high-tech lighting or European house music on a state-of-the-art sound system. Nope, Big Game is none... More >>
• Best One-Nighter
  Respectable Street's "18 Years of Oblivion"
  As night poured into South Florida on July 30, 2005, so did a heavy torrent of rain. Anyone who drove up I-95 to Respectable Street's "18 Years of Oblivion" party was certain they'd find a couple of poncho-clad parking attendants telling everyone it'd been canceled. But the gods of bacchanal... More >>
• Best Bartender in Broward
  Jessica at Duck Soup
  It was a trip to get a secondhand couch for the new apartment. The God-fearing man behind the front desk looked at the delivery address. That's near Duck Soup, he said. He had seen some bad stuff in Duck Soup. His parting advice as he handed over the receipt: "Don't go to Duck Soup." Up his.... More >>
• Best Bartender in Palm Beach
  Rob Husted at Club Safari
  Back in '99, a young bartender traveled to Islamorada to watch the superstars of bartending compete in the Bartender's Bash. Rob Husted watched the best of the best twirl cups and juggle bottles and got hooked on "flair bartending," and in seven short years, he's climbed to the top of the sport.... More >>
• Best Beer Selection
  Case and Keg Beer World
  How many times do you have to listen to your significant other say "Oh, Milwaukee's Best... again" before you get the clue. Before you have to face the embarrassment of asking the clerk at some chain store if Sam Adams is better than Corona, go to Case and Keg and get some expert advice. Right... More >>
• Best Place for a Perfectly Poured Guinness
  Kavanagh & Morrissey's Restaurant & Irish Bar
  If you take your beer seriously, you take Guinness seriously. And if you take Guinness seriously, you take the way it's poured seriously. Advertisements for Guinness claim that "it takes 119.6 seconds to pour the perfect pint" of Ireland's famous stout. That might come as a surprise to many... More >>
• Best Bloody Mary
  Buzz's Lounge
  The primary ingredient of a bloody mary isn't hair of the dog, but it should be. After all, what better time is there to drink a bloody mary than when it's daylight and you're still hurting from last night's no-holds-barred partying session? The folks at Buzz's Lounge in Sunrise know better than... More >>
• Best Signature Cocktail
  "Marilyn Monroe" at Swig Bartini
  Of the roughly 50 martinis available at Swig Bartini, a classy nightlife spot in Weston Town Center, any one is good enough to win this Best Of. "The Swig" ($11) -- a classic, just-as-Bogie-would-like-it martini with Grey Goose, vermouth, and three large olives -- is as good as any martini gets.... More >>
• Best Margarita
  Yucatan Mexican Bar & Grill
  We've studied the South Florida margarita scene for a long time. It's a sad, lonely pursuit. There's the place that serves margaritas flavored with exotic fruits, like the prickly pear (boring). There are joints that pump out phosphorescent-looking frozen margs, distinguished only by their high... More >>
• Best Rock Club
  The Culture Room
  Could there really be any other choice? For almost a decade, the husband-and-wife rock-star team of Greg and Sharon Alliferis has run this midsized venue as if it were a major-league ballroom. They regularly pack the house for big names and offer a solid sound system and friendly service to... More >>
• Best Club DJ
  Phoenix
  With a scene that's becoming increasingly incestuous, purveyors of local nightlife put us to task this year in determining any sole winner in this category. Having chosen collective status over individual stardom, Fort Lauderdale's Phoenix crew -- just one of a few groups that now call local... More >>
• Best Place to Slow-Dance (1 Comment)
  Round Up Country Western Club
  When a place is as far south of the Mason-Dixon Line as South Florida, its slow dancing should pack a little boot, scoot, and boogie. Round Up, which boasts one of the biggest dance floors in the county, is the perfect place for the city slicker set to cast off his Yankee rigidity and learn a... More >>
• Best Strip Club
  Scarlett's Cabaret
  Strip clubs usually stick to a basic formula: stage + pole + alcohol + naked chicks + free buffet! So what makes Scarlett's Cabaret the best? "It's almost like going to a concert," one fan says. "The music, the lights, the fog machine!" The consensus seems to be that other strip clubs either... More >>
• Best Place to Play Pool
  George's Billiards
  The needs of pool players are few: a quality table, cheap beer, and a place to smoke. George's brings all of that right to your dexterous little hustling hands. There are ten pool tables for the standard game, along with two pocketless billiards tables for those who understand why there's a... More >>
• Best Biker Bar
  Nothin' Fancy Bar and Grill
  Led Zepp tattoos, handlebar mustaches, and skullcap bandannas: That kind of biker symbology you can find just about anywhere. What really counts at a biker bar worth the title are two fundamentals: babes and brawls. Nothin' Fancy's girls are the real thing: tanned and leathery with wind-beaten,... More >>
• Best Gay Bar (1 Comment)
  New Moon
  New Moon's unchallenged reign over the Fort Lauderdale lesbian scene is an inclusive one -- every day of the week, a family-style neighborhood hangout and a lesbian meatmarket coexist within its walls, lubricated by a steady stream of fine wine, live music, and an occasional bump 'n' grind on... More >>
• Best Place to Meet Single Women
  Dada
  Excuse me, sir, but I noticed you're at Dada at least once a week, and I have to ask: What is it that brings you back so often? Is it the dinner menu? The fine wine? The arty ambiance? "Uh, yeah, that's nice and all. But..." Oh, right -- it's the live music. Saturday is an especially happening... More >>
• Best Place to Meet Single Men
  The Treasure Trove
  For this one, the female staffers of New Times had to choose between journalistic integrity and our own selfish instincts (i.e., letting other women in on our secrets). Lucky for you, we went with integrity and decided to divulge our man-trap. But note that we did not call this category Best... More >>
• Best Place to Meet Intelligent Women
  Sushi Blues Café
  We like smart women, so we felt we'd hit some kind of jackpot when we started hitting Sushi Blues Café. What is it that draws the brainy girls to this Hollywood eatery? Maybe it's the delicious sushi. Maybe it's the drink specials. Or could it be the blues itself -- a storytelling kind of... More >>
• Best Place to Meet Intelligent Men
  Adult art classes at the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art
  If you're looking for a man a cut above your usual monosyllabic tits-and-ass bandit, go where the IQs are higher. Instead of stalking the reading room of the local library, which has nothing but newspapers on sticks to break the ice, enroll in a studio art class at the Fort Lauderdale Museum of... More >>
• Best Place to Meet Single Men Who Own Boats
  Tiki Waterfront Sea Grill
  A girl's gotta have standards. The guy who works on the boat is nice and all... but we know you want the guy who owns the boat. That's why you need to think like fishermen. When they go out to catch fish, they go to the place where the critters feed. When you're out to catch a boater, get... More >>
• Best Place to Meet Single Men Who Own Yachts
  Club Y
  We're not calling you a gold digger, but we know you can't mess with someone who can't afford you. Sister, if that's how you roll, that's how you roll -- with your Louis Vuitton bag and your Prada shoes. The man you want knows where you're coming from (the mall), and he's waiting for you -- in... More >>
• Best Place to Meet Single Men -- Besides a Bar
  Best Buy
  We weren't even looking for a humongous cooler full of man meat when we stumbled upon it. We had simply meandered into Best Buy, bored and lonely, thinking we'd pick up a movie with some eye candy in the starring role -- like Into the Blue or Shrek 2. That's when the hot guys just started... More >>
• Best Place for a Second Date
  Mai-Kai Restaurant and Lounge
  Loud, dark, and pricey -- is there a better formula for all-important date number two? Broward's tiki mecca has all the makings of the place to close the deal you started negotiating in (nervous, crazy-making) date one. The low light helps minimize the sorts of thing she should have noticed the... More >>
• Best Place for the Sleepless
  Primanti Brothers
  It's 4 a.m. and you know the battle against insomnia is a lost cause. What to do? Drowning out the impending daylight with booze will only make things worse, so find an early edition of the morning paper, if you can, and hit the beach. At the corner of A1A and Sunrise is a little 24-hour pizza... More >>
• Best Place to Get Drunk in Broward
  The Mental Ward
  You knew this space better as Alex's Tavern, a canker sore of a bar with air so foul it would send your clothes home smelling like a tire fire. Fortunately, as the recommissioned Mental Ward, much of the old charm remains. But it's better. The Tuesday open-mic night is the kind of low-key,... More >>
• Best Place to Get Drunk in Palm Beach
  CJ's Draft House
  Sitting down to get drunk is serious business. You can't do it at home because society will look down on you, so you have to go to town to keep up appearances. CJ's Draft House in mid-Boynton Beach has everything you need. Most weeknights, it's a quiet bar that caters to regulars, but on Tuesday... More >>
• Best Neighborhood Bar in South Broward
  Sauer Apple Saloon
  "Man, the stories you'll hear if you hang around this place..." says Mike, a regular patron of the Sauer Apple Saloon. He's just finished telling us about his days in Detroit, working as a line cook -- with Eminem ("Marshall was a real good kid. Real down-to-earth. Just the way he is when you... More >>
• Best Neighborhood Bar in Fort Lauderdale
  Grady's Bar
  A bar made from wood? In downtown Fort Lauderdale? Not Italian marble or Spanish-quarry-mined granite or turquoise-colored melted glass? Yes, Ôtis true. Though Grady's has been an inner-city fixture for 35 years, it's now surrounded by growth and development, even as the block it sits on (for... More >>
• Best Neighborhood Bar in North Broward
  Jesse's Xtreme Sports Bar
  No, you don't have to base-jump or sky-surf your way into Jesse's, as the name implies. But once you get past the slightly silly moniker, you'll find that the scruffy watering hole represents what we like best about this part of town. Namely, that there's little "pomp" in Pompano Beach. It... More >>
• Best Neighborhood Bar in South Palm Beach (1 Comment)
  Nippers
  Nippers has managed to keep a local-bar feel even in a town like Boca. While other local watering holes pretty up and scare off working stiffs and college types, Nippers has created an oasis for getting drunk in a sea of haute couture. On Wednesday, the club fills with anxious players as the... More >>
• Best Neighborhood Bar in Central Palm
  The Dirty Dwarf Pub
  Dirty and dwarf -- not the two most attractive words in the English lexicon. In fact, we'd have to say that the owners are kind of, um, brave to name their establishment the Dirty Dwarf Pub. But in a world full of fake tiki bars and Bennigans look-alikes, the Dwarf offers a welcome alternative.... More >>
• Best Place to Stay Until Last Call
  Foster's Too
  Last call is one of the most depressing moments of the night. The lights come up and you can see exactly who you were hitting on all night. What a scary thought. At Foster's Too, it isn't last call; it's "see you in a few." The bar shuts down at 5 a.m., like all good watering holes should -- but... More >>
• Best Place to Drink in Flip-Flops
  Bahia Cabana
  Do you get the shakes when you venture west of I-95? Are you allergic to socks? Do you own more bathing suits than pants? Come, let us lead you to your people. They've just come from the beach across the street. They're gathered on the wooden decks of Bahia Cabana, watching the boats go by on... More >>
• Best Place to Drink and Skate
  Bump & Grind Skate Night at Automatic Slim's
  Hey, old-timer, what are you doing at a skatepark? You must be, what, 24... 25? This here's a place for young people. Shouldn't you be out at some nightclub tossin' back the brewskis and chasing women? Well, it just so happens that you can do all of that -- drink, skate, and (possibly) score --... More >>
• Best Bar Food
  Cucina dell'Arte
  Lots of taverns serve free food; usually, you get what you pay for. Chex mix, jalapeño poppers from a hijacked Costco truck, pygmy chicken wings -- who needs that crap? Cucina dell'Arte is a restaurant during the day with all the swank you'd expect from Palm Beach (Rush Limbaugh... More >>
• Best Sports Bar (2 Comments)
  The Park Sports Club
  Can't go to the game? You can still get that 50-yard-line experience at the Park, the Ÿber-sports bar at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The interior of this palace to televised athletics mimics a true ballpark, as does the food on the menu. High-class hot dogs and other stadium food... More >>
• Best Wine Bar
  Kala's Wine Bar
  The people you're likely to meet hanging out at Kala's are almost as international as the understated wine bar's menu. Co-owners Kathleen "Kala" Gies and her husband, Gunter, are U.K. and German expats, respectively. A given evening might find Parisian tourists sampling a hearty Bordeaux at an... More >>